Three Stages of a Crush
by Sister Suffragette
Summary: "I'm talking about your feelings for Derek…" Casey stared at him with her mouth hanging open. "Wait, what are YOU talking about?" Paul questioned, terrified he had just misread the situation BIG TIME.
1. Chapter 1

Characters, names, and related elements are trademarks of the Family and Disney Channel. I own nothing. Read and review!

* * *

"Review optional reading list."

"Check!"

"Read optional reading list."

"Check!"

"Make list of all dormitory necessities."

"Check!"

Casey McDonald was pacing back and forth in her room thinking of all the tasks she needed to complete before setting off for her first year at Queen's University.

"Register for classes," Emily idled, looking at her best friend filing past.

"Check!" exclaimed Casey, settling on the edge of her desk.

"Buy textbooks?"

"Yes, I bought them last weekend," conceded Casey.

"Pack up room."

"Well," Casey started, gesturing to the various boxes scattered on the floor, "almost."

"Say goodbye to Sam," said Emily looking up from the list.

Casey let out a long sigh, "Check."

"That's the end of the list," the teen noted with a laugh. "Apart from 'say goodbye to Emily'."

"That's going to take some time," Casey assured, sitting beside her. "Am I totally crazy, Em? Going to Queen's I'm leaving all of my friends!" Casey collapsed on the bed with a heavy sigh. "All my fam-"

Closing her eyes, Casey let out an inward groan, "Derek."

Emily was chuckling, "It won't be that bad!"

Derek Venturi was Casey's charming stepbrother and the bane of her existence. Derek had received a full hockey scholarship and was set to attend Queen's University in the fall. With Casey.

Almost sobbing, Casey let out, "Why did he have to choose Queen's?"

"You know he got that scholarship," Emily said lamely.

"Why did he have to choose _my_ residence hall?" continued Casey.

"Maybe he wants to be closer to you," Emily suggested, quirking an eyebrow.

Casey stared at her for a beat- the two burst out laughing. Finally catching her breath, Casey wiped tears from her eyes. "But seriously," Casey said turning to her, "I'm going to have to see Derek every day."

"In classes, "Casey started.

"On campus," Emily offered.

"In the dorm, "finished Casey. "It's going to be a nightmare."

The two fell into a comfortable silence, Emily flipping through magazines and Casey packing textbooks into a large cardboard box.

It's not that Casey hated her stepbrother, (actually, on more than one occasion Derek had proved to be quite the hero, reluctantly showing Casey that he cared about her) but Casey wanted university to be a new page in her life. She wanted to be a new Casey, not "Klutzilla", Derek Venturi's geeky stepsister. But how could she be a new Casey with same old Derek?

Sitting up from the bed suddenly, Emily blurted, "I got it!"

"Got what?" Casey questioned, turning towards her.

"You're going to finish things with Derek! End this feud once and for all!" said Emily smiling hopefully.

Casey looked less than convinced, "And how do I do that?"

"Just talk to Derek…tell him that you guys are too old for this pranking-teasing-rivalry stuff, and fix things."

"Talk to Der-"Casey started to laugh.

"I'm serious!" Emily interrupted. "You're always getting pulled into Derek's crazy schemes. Just stop playing along, and he won't find any entertainment in bugging you."

Sitting down on the edge of the desktop, the brunette grumbled tiredly, "It's not easy being the bigger person with Derek, Emily! He just-"she huffed, "gets under my skin."

After a moment, Emily tried again, "You just need to put aside all of your anger-"

"And annoyance!" cut in Casey.

"Right… and resentment-"

"More like loathing!" Casey barked.

"-ALL of your feelings towards Derek, and-and put them behind you, "finished Emily.

"That sounds good in theory," Casey insisted, collecting textbooks again, "but you're forgetting that Derek's sole ambition is to make my life a _living hell_".

"Casey, it's just sibling stuff- Dimmy and I are the same way!"

Casey spun around, mouth agape.

"Filling my blow dryer with flour," Casey seethed.

"Not that bad," replied Emily, shrugging.

"Saran Wrap on the toilet seat."

"You learned to check after the fourth time, though," Emily said reassuringly.

"Rotten eggs in my air vent," Casey said, throwing her hands up dramatically.

"It was only a few months," said Emily faintly.

Casey turned to her glaring, "Paying off my teachers to call me Crappy McDump for the day!"

Fighting a smile, Emily quipped, "How was he to know the nickname would stick?"

Casey let out a grievous sob, flopping down on the bed. "He'll never listen to me, Em!" she groaned, throwing a pillow over her face.

Emily rubbed her shoulder consolingly, "You're not giving him enough credit Crap- uh I mean Casey!"

Casey groaned even louder.

"Derek has matured a lot over the years!" Emily added.

Standing in faded jeans and an old hockey jersey, Derek Venturi suddenly appeared in Casey's doorway. "Emily, your brother is waiting for you downstairs," he said. Swaggering into the room, he drawled, "Oh and Casey, I never got a chance to ask you how that itching powder in your underwear worked out?"

"Der-ek!" Casey yelled, throwing a pillow at him.

Derek dodged it, winking; disappearing down the hallway, he bellowed, "Only for you, Crappy!"

Laughing, Emily started collecting her stuff off the desk. "Just give it a thought, Case," she said over her shoulder. "If you end it, university will be a lot more bearable!"

Hugging her friend goodbye, Casey laid on the bed again staring at the ceiling. Several minutes passed before she jumped up and grabbed her jacket hanging off the headboard. "I need to talk to Paul," she said, racing out of the room.

* * *

Chapter 2 coming next week!


	2. Chapter 2

Characters, names, and related elements are trademarks of the Family and Disney Channel. I own nothing. Keep reading and reviewing!

* * *

Casey paced down the street on her way to Paul Greeby's (London High School's guidance counselor/ computer science teacher) house. Over the years, Paul had become Casey's trusted confidant in all things concerning her new life, i.e. Derek.

"222…224!" Casey muttered, approaching the small, shingled house on the corner. Skipping up the steps, Casey reached out and knocked on the door.

Paul Greeby was enjoying his last Monday off before school started the following week. Dressed in his finest plaid pajamas, the counselor was lazily organizing student files into different cardboard boxes. Humming happily, Paul started sifting through a particularly tall stack of files; the pile was stuffed with crumpled paper and wayward sticky notes. With a huff, Paul seated himself on the living room rug and began trying to right the pages. Glancing over the labeled tag, Paul laughed. The stack was Derek Venturi's permanent record, the post-its were Casey McDonald's commentary on her stepbrother's life choices.

"Of course," Paul chuckled, moving the mountain of papers onto his coffee table.

Seated on his couch, Paul began flipping through the pages, smiling. The less-than-dynamic duo had been his favorite students from the moment Casey McDonald stumbled into his office ranting about her new, eccentric family three years ago. Soon after, the girl had become a permanent fixture in his office. Every embarrassing moment, social mishap, or relationship woe seemed to be Derek's fault according to Casey, and Paul heard all about it. "Oh Derek," Paul thought sighing, "if you stopped pulling her hair, she'd tell you she _like_ likes you." Paul thought it a shame that during her time at London High, Casey never fessed up to her feelings toward Derek; he knew the girl would feel a lot better if she got it off her chest!

'_Hey Paul! Nice weather, eh? I've got the hots for my stepbrother.'_

_That's why I devote my limited free time to nagging him._

_And talk incessantly about his every exploit._

_Did I mention that our constant bickering is just manifested sexual tension caused by unrequited longing and general teen angst?_

_It's not that hard!_

A loud knock at the door pulled Paul out of his reverie; knocking papers to the ground, he stumbled into the foyer.

"Hi, Paul!" Casey chirped as the door swung open.

Paul looked at her dumbfounded. "Casey," the man gawked.

Apparently unfazed by her guidance counselor staring at her, "So Emily is trying to convince me that Der—"

"Casey," Paul stopped her, "what are you doing at my house?"

"What do you mean?" Casey asked confused, her face suddenly matching his.

"You're at my house." No reaction. "How are you at my house?"

"Oh," Casey let out in understanding. "Well obviously I memorized the phone numbers and addresses of all my teachers in case of an emergency."

Paul narrowed his eyes at her. "Emergency," he repeated.

"Class absence, late assignment, grading error…" she answered distractedly, edging her way past him into the house. Casey found the joining living room and plopped herself on the couch.

Paul mindlessly followed behind her, closing the door. Still looking befuddled, he took a seat across from her, watching as she shifted uneasily on the cushions.

"I was talking with Emily, "she began determinedly. "And I can't do anything about Derek going to Queen's with me; I mean he's going to be there whether I like or not. So Emily encouraged me to try and make the best of the situation." Casey looked at him, waiting for his response: Paul raised his eyebrows for her to continue. "I'm a mature adult, and it's time to end this thing with Derek."

Paul's eyebrows knitted together as he mulled over her speech. "End it with Derek," he finally replied.

"Yeah," Casey said nervously, trying to read his face. "Push aside all of my…"

_Anger, resentment, irritation, loathing, annoyance!_

Casey's mind shouted out.

"All of my _feelings_ towards Derek, and—and move on."

"Feelings…" he parroted dumbly. Casey nodded; Paul stared at her blankly. A smile slowly spread across the man's face until he was absolutely beaming, "Finally!" Paul thought. "That's great!" he exclaimed. "I'm so glad you finally realized this. Gosh, for a while there, I didn't think we were ever going to have this conversation. I'm so proud of you, Casey!"

"No!" Casey retorted, cutting him off. Surprised at Paul's response, the girl leapt to her feet. "Yeah, it would be great, but how can I possibly end things with Derek?" she ranted. "I mean, believe me I have tried to end this for three years!" Casey ran a hand over her face groaning, "Not like it's just going to stop— this is Derek!"

After a moment, Casey huffed. "I want to work things out with Derek; I don't know if that's possible, though," she confessed. "I mean sometimes he gets me so worked up I— I just want to jump him then and there!"

_Punch that stupid grin right off his face!_

Paul cleared his throat and stared at the floor. "Oh boy," he thought frantically. Still not meeting her gaze, "I know there are certain, um," Paul closed his eyes, "urges."

_Can barely stand it!_

_Takes all my will power not to knock his teeth out._

"I don't think your parents would commend such b-behavior," Paul finished, reaching for his forgotten cup of coffee on the table.

Daydreaming about various ways to break Derek's nose, Casey missed her guidance counselor's uncomfortable stammering. Casey spun towards him, "I don't care if I get in trouble! Take him during family dinner, for all I care!" Coffee went up Paul's nose. "Pound him in to the floo—"

"—Okay!" Paul gasped, waving his arms desperately. "Uh—okay. This… good." Paul's mouth opened and closed as he struggled to find the right words. "Casey, I understand how frustrating this must be. Derek has driven you crazy for years."

_Got that right!_

"But Emily is right, the only way to make the situation better between the two of you is to move past this." As Casey started to retort, Paul put his hands up in defense. "It may seem impossible now, but the attraction will eventually fade."

_Attraction?_

"I mean as a guidance counselor I can hardly say having a crush on your stepbrother is healthy," Paul laughed.

_Wait…_

Risking a glance at Casey's face (which was currently sporting a look of appalled shock), Paul hurriedly said, "Please don't think I'm judging you, Casey! Derek is a handsome kid." The appalled shock was replaced by stunned disgust. "We don't choose who we like—I remember grade four I was infatuated with the lunch lady," Paul recalled dreamily. "She always smelt of meatloaf…"

_ATTRACTION?_

Realization hit Casey like a bus. "WHAT?" she shrieked.

Paul inched closer, thinking she hadn't heard him. "I'm talking about your feelings for Derek…" Casey stared at him with her mouth hanging open. "Wait, what are _you_ talking about?" Paul questioned, terrified he had just misread the situation big time.

_Wha—_

_How—_

_NO!_

Casey took several deep breaths trying to steady her voice to an octave that didn't shatter glass. "Emily told me that it was a good idea to end my feud with Derek; to stop fighting with him. F-feelings," Casey mumbled, turning slightly green.

If there was ever a time Paul wanted to disappear, that moment would be it. "Oh lord. Oh… I see. End the feud," Paul cleared his throat as he swiftly started backing away. "Well ending the rivalry will definitely make your time at Queen's more tolerable." The man paced backward blindly, knocking into things.

"You think I have a crush on Derek!" she squeaked, stalking towards him.

"—Being the bigger person is very difficult sometimes, but rewarding," Paul continued, staring determinedly at his slippers.

"The only thing I _feel_ for Derek," Casey spit as if she were swearing, "is nausea."

"Communication is key—"

"Paul!"

The counselor had literally backed himself into a corner. Paul's eyes slowly lifted from the ground and settled on an enraged Casey. Clasping his hands together, Paul admitted defeat. "Casey you might have to consider that, perhaps, your anger with Derek stems from… something else."

"Derek," Casey said through clenched teeth, "is the most selfish, arrogant, pig I have ever met."

Paul nodded. "Yes, but Derek has surprised you. I remember several times Derek showed his adoration for you, helped you out. Didn't he take you to prom?" Casey shifted uncomfortably. "And even you, Casey, must have noticed his looks."

Casey didn't say anything, but the bright red blush that spread over her cheeks spoke volumes.

"Maybe, you're mad at Derek because you like him."

"We fight all the time!" she yelled. "We were arguing before I came here!"

"Fighting and bickering can be signs of sexual tension. Chemistry between two people."

Bile started rising up Casey's throat. Paul mistook her silence as acknowledgement, and continued explaining. "Owning up to your feelings is the first step in moving past this attraction."

_Sexual tension._

_Sexual._

_Derek._

_Sex with Der—_

"Trash can," she whispered.

"Sorry?" he asked, looking concerned.

"I'm going to be sick," she said, swaying on her feet. Casey collapsed on the sofa and tucked her head between her knees, willing herself not to ralph all over the floor. Snippets of the conversation began racing through her mind as Paul rushed into the kitchen.

"_Crush"_

"_Handsome kid"_

"_Finally realized"_

"_Urges"_

"_Pound him into the floo—"_

"I need to go now," Casey said to the empty room.

Without saying goodbye to Paul (or closing the front door) Casey sprinted out of the house. Not paying any attention to where she was going, the teen bounded down the road, hitting walkers and bicyclists alike that veered in her way. Casey ran as fast as her feet could carry her until she collided, face first, into a tall oak tree. She had accidentally ran home.

Rubbing her newly bruised forehead, Casey slowly walked up the steps and turned the doorknob.

_Please, please, please, please, please, please_

Derek Venturi was staring dully at the television screen, reclined back in his leather chair. Crumbs spotted his plain T-shirt, which rode up his stomach. Mindlessly flipping through channels, the teen finally noticed the agape door. Derek's eyes roamed over Casey as she stood planted in the doorway.

"What?"

_This will not end well._

* * *

Chapter 3 coming next week!


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